Tickell Lane was the original name of the lower part of Queen Street from the Market Place then known as Poe Street as far as Coates Lane then known as Roper Alley. In 1666 Thomas Tickell had been made Sir John Lowther's agent, to look after his affairs in Whitehaven whilst he lived in London. Thomas Tickell aquired a plot of land about midway along this lane on the north side. The angle of the street follows the boundery of land then owned by William Hodgson and this is what gives modern day Queen Street a dog leg at the bottom end and thus decides the alignment of Irish Street.
Sir John only visited Whitehaven occasionally, but maintained a strong control of the development through regular correspondence with Thomas Tickell who also provided a complete set of accounts. As these documents and those of later agents have survived we have much greater detail of Whitehaven at that time than if Sir John had been here to oversea and command in person. We know that income of the estate from rents alone increased 50 percent during Tickell's stewardship.
Thomas Tickell died in 1692. His daughter had married John Gale Jnr. who took over interim stewardship until the arrival of William Gilpin the following year.
© WAWL 2009